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Senate confirms wave of DoD nominees, new OFPP administrator

The Senate confirmed a flurry of nominations Thursday night, including several high-level people in the Department of Defense and a new administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy.

President Barack Obama nominated Joe Jordan to fill the top spot at OFPP in February. He succeeds former administrator Dan Gordon, who resigned at the end of 2011.

Before joining the Office of Management and Budget as a senior adviser to Acting Director Jeffrey Zients last December, Jordan was the associate administrator for government contracting and business development at the Small Business Administration.

The DoD confirmations included:

Frank Kendall as under secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics: Currently the acting under secretary for that position, Kendall has 35 years of experience in the private industry, the military and government in engineering, management, national security affairs and defense acquisition.

James Miller as undersecretary for policy: He has been the principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy since April 2009.

Erin Conaton as under secretary for personnel & readiness: A veteran staffer for the House Armed Services Committee, where she was staff director from 2007-2010, Conaton is currently the under secretary of the Air Force.

Jessica Wright as assistant secretary for reserve affairs: She currently serves as acting assistant secretary for that position, as well as acting principal staff advisor to the secretary of defense (reserve affairs). Wright came to that office after retiring as a major general in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

Katrina McFarland as assistant secretary for acquisition: She was the former president of the Defense Acquisition University.

Kathleen H. Hicks as principal deputy undersecretary for policy: In February 2009, she was appointed the deputy under secretary of defense for strategy, plans and forces. Prior to that, she was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Derek H. Chollet as assistant secretary of defense: He is currently the senior director for strategic planning on the White House's national security team. He was previously principal deputy director for policy planning in the State Department.

The Senate also confirmed rank of general nominations for the Air Force (six), Army (28) and Marine Corps (10) and eight Navy nominations in the rank of admiral.

This story is part of Federal News Radio's daily DoD Report. For more defense news, click here.